Born in 1941 in Karachi in a Sindhi family, Sadhana Shivdasani might have been destined to be an actress as her father had named her after his favourite actress of the '40s, Sadhana Bose. After making her debut in a Sindhi film, Sadhana's big Bollywood break came in the form of 'Love in Simla' with Joy Mukherjee. (All pictures/YouTube and mid-day archives)
Sadhana was the only child and her mother home-schooled her until she was eight. In 1955 she played a chorus girl in the song 'Mur mur ke na dekh mur mur ke' in Raj Kapoor's Shree 420. She made her full-fledged film debut in the first-ever Sindhi film Abana.
In the earlier phase of her career, Sadhana made a hit pair with Dev Anand (who can forget the utterly romantic 'Abhi Na Jao' song in 'Hum Dono' picturised on this couple?)
Sadhana's on-screen chemistry with Rajendra Kumar was much talked about too. The two actors were great friends off-screen as well.
Some of Sadhana's memorable films include Love in Simla, Hum Dono, Ek Musafir Ek Hasina, Asli-Naqli, Mere Mehboob, Woh Kaun Thi, Mera Saaya and Waqt.
Sadhana with Helen and Bela in 'Dil Daulat Duniya'. Sadhana was friends with Helen and Nanda, who were among the few celebs from the industry to have helped her in her later years.
It was in the '60s that beautiful Sadhana, along with being an actress to reckon with, was also a fashion icon. Her fringe, presumably simply done at the behest of director R K Nayyar (who she later married) to hide her broad forehead, went on to be imitated by millions of girls, famously called as Sadhana cut.
Even though Sadhana enjoyed the position of being one of the most sought after actresses in the '60s, she was easily forgotten once she decided to step into the shadows.
Sadhana had chosen to stay away from the media glare as by her own admission she wanted to be remembered as the 'khoobsurat' Sadhana. What she hadn't chosen, however, was that after her husband RK Nayyar's death, she had a hard time struggling to keep her Santacruz home and she had to seek police protection for the same.
One of the last public events Sadhana was spotted at was a Shaina NC fashion show in May 2014.
Sadhana had walked the ramp with Ranbir Kapoor and Aditi Rao Hydari at the Shaina NC fashion show in May 2014. She passed away on December 25, 2015, at the age of 74 in Mumbai.
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